Pretty cool ride to school

It’s a rite of virtually every morning during Fire Prevention Week.A New Hampton Fire Department truck will pull up next to the Tribune office, a child will jump out and a photo will be snapped.It’s been going on for almost 30 years, and it’s a tradition New Hampton Fire Chief Steve Geerts hopes will never die.“I think it’s one of the best parts of the job,” he said, “and all of us who have driven a child to school would probably say that. To see the excitement on the kids’ faces, to see how families treat it as a really big deal — we have parents, siblings, grandparents out there a lot of times waiting for us — it’s just pretty dang cool.”— For more on this story, see the Oct. 12 New Hampton Tribune.